The invention relates generally to articles for food service. More specifically it relates to improvements in tray stacking systems for use in the service of food to numbers of people.
There are a number of United States patents which disclose various stacking tray systems for use in the distribution and service of prepared food. Such systems are disclosed, for instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,532,247, 3,754,640, 3,799,143 and 3,802,539.
The advantages of stacking tray systems can be enhanced and added to beyond those shown in the above cited patents by the provision of means whereby the height of a stack of trays holding food for service can be reduced.
Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide a novel stacking tray system which permits a greater number of trays to be stacked with a stack height which is less than that of the prior art.
It is another object of this invention to provide a novel stacking tray system which is relatively economical to make and simple in construction, but is capable of holding a wide variety of food items for service.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a novel tray capable of holding a wide variety of items for food service but which is relatively compact and capable of being stacked for transportation and storage purposes.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel stacking tray system which, while holding food for service at locations remote for a food preparation area, may be easily transported.